Door



May 25, 1943. v

C. A. FRALINGER DOOR Criginal Filed May 15, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l Patented May 25, 1943 Charles A. Fralingcr, East Chicago, Ind.

Original application May 15, 1941, Serial No. 393,615. Divided and this application August 30, 1941, Serial No. 409,085

1 Claim.

My invention relates to improvements in doors for use more particularly as sliding closures on refrigerator cars, and the like, and with sealing equipment such as that disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 393,615, filed May 15, 1941, and of which the instant application is a division.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a simply constructed, inexpensive, and durable door equipped with built-in locking bolts for coaction with keepers to lock the door at the four corners thereof and including easily operable means for projecting and retracting the bolts.

Other and subordinate objects are also comprehended by my invention, all of which, together with the precise nature of my improvement, will be readily understood when the succeeding description and claim are read with reference to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation'illustrating the preferred embodiment of my invention applied,

Figure 2 is a view in vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a View in rear elevation .of the door.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, my improved door I comprises a pair of front and rear, matching, rectangular plates 2, 3 of suitable metal, and secure together in any desired manner. The rear plate 3 is pressed out to provide a transversely square, rear bead, or boss, 4 having the longitudinal form of a hollow rectangle and which is spaced from the edges of the door I equi-distantly around the same.

A pair of roller carrying brackets 5 of platelike form are suitably secured to the outer face of the front plate 2, at the bottom thereof, said brackets depending below the bottom edge-of said door and each being folded upon itself to provide a pair of laterally spaced, front and rear cheek plates 6, I having a roller 8 journaled therein, as at 9, to rotate therebetween. The rear cheek plate I of each bracket 5 is turned rearwardly and downwardly to form a transversely right angled keeper It for a purpose presently seen.

The front plate 2 of the door I is pressed out, forwardly, to provide an X-shaped hollow bead, or boss, II on its front face centered relative to the plate to provide hollow legs I2 extending diagonally to the four corners of the door, or front plate 2, and having ends opening onto the top and bottom edges of said door, said boss being closed at its rear side by the rear plate 3 and said legs I2 tapering laterallywto said ends thereof. Both plates providea rigid door, in which the inner surfaces of said plates are. in close adjacent relation to with each other'over'a major portion of their area and they are reinforced by diagonal raised beads on one of the plates.

The hollow boss I I provides a housing for latch mechanism now to be described.

In the center of the boss II is a cruciform, rotary latch rod operating member I3 fast on the inner end of central arbor I4 suitably journaled in and extending at its front end forwardly out of the front plate 2. A depending hand lever I5 is fixed at one end on said outer end of said arbor for rotating the member I 3, said lever having a hand grip lower end I6 movable into right and left hand limit of movement as established by a suitable segmental guide bar I! suitably fixed to the outer face of the front plate 2 to overlie said lever. A plurality of latch rods I8 are pivoted at inner ends thereof, as at I9, to the outer ends of the operating member I3 to extend through said legs I2, said rods having outer latching ends 20, the arrangement being such that a pair of latch rods I8 are provided for the top and bottom of the door I endwise movalble under movement of the lever I5 and rotation of the member I3 into their limits of movement in a left hand direction to thereby project the ends 20 of said rods Iii. Obviously, movement of the lever I5 into its opposite limit of movement and reverse rotation of said member I3 will retract said ends 20 of the rods I8 into the legs I2. The latching ends 20 of the latch rods I8 are provided with beveled sides forming cams 2I for a purpose presently seen.

As explanatory of the use of the described door, the bead 4 thereof is designed to fit into a rectangular, channel frame 22 surrounding the side doorway 23 of a refrigerator car 24 to close and seal said doorway. The rollers 8 are designed to run on a track rail 25 extending horizontally below the doorway 23 so that the door is movable toward and from the car to enter the bead 4 in the frame 22 and move the same out of said frame, and also So that the door is movable edgewise to cover and uncover said doorway 23. The top edge of the door I is designed for movement in the described manner behind a. keeper and door guide 26 extending along the top of the doorway 23'. The described keepers III are provided for engaging the rear side of the track rail 25 to limit forward movement of said door I,

The latching ends 20 of the upper pair of latch rods l8 are designed in the covering or closing position of the door I to be projected through apertures, as at 21, in the keeper and door guide 26 and into housings 2'! on said guide 26 to thereby lock the top of said door 1 to said guide, and the cams 2| of said ends 20 are designed to. coact with said apertures 21 to cam said door rearwardly at its top and enter the bead 4 in the frame 22. The latching ends 20 of the lower pair of latch rods I8 are designed to be projected behind the track rail 25 to lock the bottom of the door I and the cams 2! of said lower pair are designed to coact with said rail 25 to cam the door rearwardly at its bottom and enter the bead 4 in the frame 22'. One edge of the door I is designed to coact with a-suitable stop 28 on the car 24, and said door in its opening movement edgewise to coact with spacing rails 29, 30 on the car 24 in a manner not important to the invention and which therefore need merely be mentioned in passing,

The manner in which the latch bolts i8 are projected and retracted has already been described.

The foregoing will, it is believed, suffice to impart a clear understanding of my invention without further explanation.

Manifestly, the invention, as described, is susceptible of modification without departing from the inventive concept, and right is herein reserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of the subjoined claim.

What I claim is: I

A composite refrigerator car door comprising a pair of inner and outer plates secured to each other extending entirely over a door opening the inner surfaces of said plates being in contact with each other over a major portion of their area, a plurality of bolts projecting from between the plates at the corners thereof, mechanism between said plates f-or simultaneously operating the bolts to extend them into and withdraw them from their locking position in cooperating fastenings, a handle on the exterior of one of the plates and connected to said mechanism, one of said plates being flat and the other plate having a raised portion to enclose the locking bolts and their operating mechanism.

CHARLES A. FRALINGER. 

